page_title: 1979 vote of no confidence in the Callaghan ministry
section_title: Vote
hierarchical_section_title: 1979 vote of no confidence in the Callaghan ministry / Vote
caption_attribution_description: English: Votes by party in the 1979 vote of no confidence against the government of James Callaghan. This graph starts at 250. All voters in first 250 are Conservative/Labour. Yes vote totals: 279 conservative 13 liberal 11 scottish national party 5 ulster unionist 1 independent 1 united ulster unionist 1 democratic unionist No vote totals: 287 labour 16 labour co-operative 3 plaid cymru 2 ulster unionist 2 Scottish labour
context_page_description: A vote of no confidence in the British Labour government of James Callaghan occurred on 28 March 1979. The vote was brought by Opposition leader Margaret Thatcher and was lost by the Labour Government by one vote, which was announced at 10:19 pm. The result mandated a general election which was won by Thatcher's Conservative Party. The last time an election had been forced by the House of Commons was in 1924, when Ramsay MacDonald, the first Labour Prime Minister, lost a vote of confidence. Labour politician Roy Hattersley later remarked that the vote marked "the last rites" of 'old Labour'. Labour did not return to government for another 18 years. The BBC has referred to the vote as "one of the most dramatic nights in Westminster history".
context_section_description: The government lost by one vote. Margaret Thatcher initially believed she had lost the vote after a rough calculation as to the vote's outcome had been made without counting the two Conservative tellers who had counted the votes.  Due to the closeness of the vote there is some debate as to whether deals could have been made which would have kept the Government in power.  Had the vote been tied, the Speaker of the House of Commons, George Thomas, would probably have followed Speaker Denison's rule and used his casting vote in favour of the status quo and thus against the motion. After the vote Conservative backbenchers cheered and Labour left-wingers sang "The Red Flag".
caption: Top part of chart of votes by party (including tellers). Ayes: ConservativeLiberalSNPUUPDUPUUUP. Noes: LabourUUPPlaid Cymru. First 250 Con/Lab votes not shown.
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